2025年9月24日
GW250114: Rotating Black Holes Collide
Illustration Credit: Aurore Simonnet (SSU/EdEon), LVK, URI; LIGO Collaboration
Explanation: It was the strongest gravitational wave signal yet measured — what did it show? GW250114 was detected by both arms of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in Washington and Louisiana USA earlier this year. Analysis showed that the event was created when two black holes, each of mass around 33 times the mass of the Sun, coalesced into one larger black hole with a mass of around 63 solar masses. Even though the event happened about a billion light years away, the signal was so strong that the spin of all black holes, as well as initial ringing of the final black hole, was deduced with exceptional accuracy. Furthermore, it was confirmed better than before, as previously predicted, that the total event horizon area of the combined black hole was greater than those of the merging black holes. Featured, an artist’s illustration depicts an imaginative and conceptual view from near one of the black holes before collision.
Tomorrow’s picture: open space
GW250114: 旋转黑洞的碰撞
Illustration Credit: Aurore Simonnet (SSU/EdEon), LVK, URI; LIGO Collaboration
说明: 这是人类至今量测到最强的重力波信号──它显示了什么？今年稍早，美国 华盛顿与路易斯安娜的「激光干涉引力波天文台」（LIGO）侦测臂同时捕捉到了GW250114的讯号。分析结果显示，这个事件源自两个黑洞的合并，每个黑洞的质量约为太阳的33倍，最终融合成一个质量约为63倍太阳质量的更大黑洞。即使这场宇宙剧变发生在十亿光年之外，讯号仍然强大到足以让科学家首次精确测定所有黑洞的自旋。此外，这次也更清楚地验证了爱因斯坦广义相对论的一项预测: 合并后形成的黑洞，其事件视界的总面积比两个原本黑洞加起来还要大。图中所示是一幅艺术家绘制的艺术插画，呈现黑洞在碰撞前的想像和概念视图。
明日的图片: open space
